MILAN — Thermore, the Milan-based, down-free, thermal insulation company, wants to become a household name in its product category.
The firm is kicking off a new phase of its development hinged on tapping into end consumers, the performance apparel sector, and its clients, to ramp up its branding and potentially bill itself as the Gore-Tex of padding.
The onboarding in December of Laura Beachy as vice president of global marketing and communications was an instrumental move.
The executive joined Thermore from New York-based marketing firm Hyla Strategies, where she had worked since 2014, most recently serving as managing partner. She brings knowledge of the outdoor and performance apparel categories to the Milan-based company.
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“I think first the company is recognizing, or I should say, their clients are recognizing that consumers are just becoming more conscientious about their overall purchases,” Beachy said in her first interview since joining the company.
“We need the customer to know that we exist, customers have to be able to see our hang tags on the clothes and know that this is a product that they can trust, a product that they want to bring home,” she added.
To be sure, Thermore — which was established in 1972 — started offering high-performance, recycled insulation materials made of recycled PET bottles in the ‘80s, increasingly committing to a full-fledged sustainable assortment. The first fully recycled fiber-based padding bowed in 2011 before the introduction, in 2019, of the signature Ecodown product, which repurposes 10 PET bottles per outerwear piece.
The company has since introduced one or two new products a year, including the newly launched Invisiloft, a slim padding intended for high-performance sportswear.
Thermore has already built a client base among fashion and sportswear companies, and it’s now targeting end consumers, with the first consumer-facing campaign debuting last November.
Titled “Power Comes From Within” and featuring Aspesi, EA7 Emporio Armani and Canadian skiwear brand Karbon as its three partner brands, the campaign highlights the versatility of Thermore’s products focusing on urban, outdoorsy and performance outerwear.
“Thermore had done some very light b-to-c activations in the ‘80s, and then really shifted and focused really heavy into the industry. Once they saw that the trends of the industry were shifting because consumers are more mindful and conscientious, [they decided] we need to reach them,” Beachy explained.
“With the launch of our first consumer campaign…our goal is to not only reach the end consumer on our own and kind of educate them about components in products to begin with. But also to be able to elevate the clients that we already are working for and trying to find strategies where we are amplifying what they are doing, because they are already reaching the end consumer. So that’s where we’re at now,” she said.
Thermore is well positioned when it comes to forging alliances with its brand clients.
“Clients actively want to work with us.…There’s a lot of brands, especially in the mid- to upper level, that are really already interested in elevating the fact that they’re working with us. So, when it comes to reaching them, we rely on some of the deep connections and relationships we’ve already forged,” Beachy said. She is mindful, though, that it is up to Thermore to “come to the table with assets and creative elements that they can naturally use in their marketing materials that are actually effective and worthwhile.”
“I think up until now, it’s been like ‘make sure you include us.’ But that’s not giving the brands that actual built-in strategy of here’s how you can include us, so providing them assets directly. Since I’ve joined, we are in 12 active conversations to do pretty large-scale marketing efforts. I’m not so concerned about brands wanting to work with us on this. I’m concerned about the bandwidth we have to make sure we’re servicing the folks,” Beachy said.
Cue the upcoming collaboration with Karbon, the Canadian skiwear brand, for a shared activation during the upcoming Ski Cross World Cup events in Craigleith, Canada, in March. Thermore was also part of EA7 Emporio Armani’s Winter Tour in Livigno that kicked off on Sunday.
One of Thermore’s key pillars in its end consumer strategy is education on sustainability.
“I think a large portion of our direct b-to-c [efforts] is educational, also on the effects of greenwashing, specifically in our industry. What’s nice about working for Thermore is that they don’t want to cut corners, so sometimes that slows things down. As the marketer, all I want to do is, like, rapidly get everything to market, but it’s been nice to see the intentionality that they take when they are communicating their products,” Beachy said.
The company — which in 2024 generated revenues of $13 million — allocates about 10 percent of yearly income to R&D and pours efforts in continuously testing its product offering to ensure top-notch performance and sustainability credentials.
These data need to have a storytelling component that end consumers can relate to, “interesting stats that consumers can visualize,” the executive said.
Thermore is PETA-approved as a vegan manufacturer and has obtained the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 and Global Recycle Standard certifications. In addition to its Milan headquarters, the company boasts industrial plants in Hong Kong and Bangkok, the former certified according to the Higg standard for its environmental and social impact and the latter approved by Bluesign, which bestows its certification on companies with responsible business models, especially when it comes to the use of chemicals.
In mid-2025, the company plans to issue a sustainability report assessing its carbon footprint and highlighting key areas of improvement. It will inform the roadmap to meet ESG goals for 2026 and beyond, Beachy said.
The company’s main markets include the U.S., Italy, Germany and Sweden, the latter bound to become its second largest in 2025. It has also expanded its footprint in Asia, where Japan represents the country with the strongest performance.
Acknowledging the complex scenario, marked by uncertainty and economic headwinds, Beachy said “the challenge is being able to navigate a changing financial landscape due to the realities of some geopolitical climates that we have no control over. So the mindset here is very much what we can control, we control.…Second is making sure that we are constantly in contact with the pulse of what specific insulation needs are happening [in the market].”
